George McNeill resumes life, game on golf course

George McNeill hits the ball at the 4th hole, Monday, during the Pro-Am part of the 22nd Henke-Berg Junior Masters Monday at Cypress Lake Country Club in Fort Myers. McNeil and the rest of the players had to suspend play because of lightning.(Photo: Marc Beaudin, Marc Beaudin/Special to The News)

Following the death of his sister earlier this month, George McNeill’s return to normalcy — whatever that is for anyone — resumed Monday with his customary support of the Nolan Henke/Patty Berg Junior Masters.

The tournament, being held Wednesday-Friday at Cypress Lake Country Club in Fort Myers, opened with a pro-am Monday that serves as the primary fundraiser for the Southwest Florida Junior Golf Association.

“They say, ‘Give back to the game.’ That’s what I’m doing,” said McNeill, winner of the first two installments of the Henke/Berg, in 1993 and ’94, and a product of the Southwest Florida Junior Golf Association. “I’m a member here. It makes it real simple.”

McNeill, 38, in his eighth season on the PGA Tour, shot a career-low 9-under 61 in the final round of The Greenbrier Classic on July 6, catapulting him to a second-place finish on the same day his eldest sibling, Michele, lost a two-year battle to breast cancer.

The finish qualified McNeill for the British Open two weeks later, when he shot 76-73 to miss the cut.

“I played in some tough conditions,” said the North Fort Myers High School graduate and former Florida State golfer, who got the far rougher half of the event’s notoriously mercurial weather. “That’s part of golf and going over there to play.”

Off last week and this week, McNeill will return to action next week for the PGA Championship, where he’ll resume pursuit of his first career finish in the top 30 of the season-long FedEx Cup points race.

McNeill, ranked 82nd in the world and having the best season of his career with more than $1.9 million earned, is 34th in FedEx points.

Finishing in the top 30 would qualify McNeill for all four FedEx Cup playoff events in August and September and allow him to play next season in all four major championships, which he’s never done.

“That’s always been a goal,” said McNeill, who has played in the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship a combined nine times but never in the Masters.

“The Masters is great. I’ve never played there. But there’s a lot of other things that go along with it. It’s a long-range goal, but now I’ve put myself in position to do that right now, it’s more in sight.”

Following next week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., the tour concludes its regular events with the Wyndam Championship in Greensboro, N.C., before holding the first of four playoff events, The Barclays, Aug. 21-24, in Paramus, N.J.

McNeill, whose four top-10 finishes this season equal his career-best, believes he can secure a top-30 points finish with one or two more good events or even a win, which would be the third of his career.

“I’ve been playing OK,” said McNeill, who has never played Valhalla, site of the 2008 Ryder Cup and perhaps best known as the site of Tiger Woods’ three-hole playoff defeat of Bob May in the 2000 PGA Championship.

“I don’t know what kind of golf course it is. It might not fit my eye. I’m not going to say I’m playing well. I’m not going to say I’m playing bad. It can change a lot in a few days or hours.”

As for his late sister, McNeill said his time on the course has been part of moving forward.

“Time does help and heals, but you still never forget,” he said. “I’m getting past it and been able to start focusing on my job again, and everybody else in the family is as well.”

Follow Seth Soffian on Twitter @NewsPressSeth.

If you go

• What: Nolan Henke/Patty Berg Junior Masters

• When: Wednesday-Friday

• Where: Cypress Lake Country Club

• Info: 481-1333

Career year

With a maximum of six events remaining in his season, Fort Myers resident George McNeill is already posting career-best results in his eight seasons on the PGA Tour. Some highlights: